My health recovery is incredibly fast.

"Yes, that's right. Before applying to be an investigator, we definitely need to obtain key witnesses and physical evidence, otherwise the Mage Temple won't agree. What we're doing now is just routine work, and we're just hoping that the traitor will turn himself in."

Xia Zuo nodded with a deep expression.

After carefully reading Emily's alchemy diary today, he was 80% certain that Hemsster had embezzled a small portion of the armored slugs under the guise of his job, made other types of ring-breathing insects, and sold them to others in private.

Shazo calmly recounted his findings to Dim, ending his statement with a question:

"If what I've said is correct, can you tell me what the key evidence is? Have you already obtained the sample of the Hemstedt worm you made?"

Dim reached into his alchemy pouch and pulled out a heavy, locked metal box.

He didn't open it, but simply placed it on the table to display it. "Inside are 12 withered ring-breathing insects, their design completely different from those used by the Warriors' Guild. But until today, we cannot directly associate these ring-breathing insects with Helmst."

Dim paused, scratching his beard. "As for witnesses... Peteroff is one, and now Emily is another. Besides these two, I encountered more than ten victims while tracking down leads related to Peteroff. The annular worms in the metal box were peeled off from them."

"Can we go directly to Helmst?" Xia Zuo asked.

Tim nodded, a smile spreading across his bearded face, and took Emily's handbook out of his pocket. "Of course. To be honest, Emily's performance exceeded my expectations. I didn't expect her to pull out this handbook that connects all the evidence. Perhaps she received instructions from her mentor."

“However, we need to find a different way to contact Helmst.” Dim put away the metal box and manual, pointing to the other party as he said:

"I will openly drive the carriage to Sprill City. You will use Windwalk to go there, keep an eye on the target, track him, and record all his actions, as well as the people and things he comes into contact with."

"Okay, leave it to me." Xia Zuo touched the wrist guard on his wrist. It seemed that Beatrice had already guessed all of this, which was why she took out the temporary anti-detection barrier a month in advance.

Upon seeing Xia Zuo's actions, Dim patted the other's shoulder with his large right hand.

"Be careful and don't take any risks. Don't let your guard down just because Hemsster is only a mage apprentice. Even with the anti-detection barrier, the Wind Walk spell still has many weaknesses, so you need to be extra careful."

Xia Zuo solemnly agreed, then scratched the back of his head, "Dim, what if Hemsster flees west and hides in the wilderness outside the kingdom?"

“That’s possible.” Dim said calmly, as if this was something he had expected. “If he really does do that, we’ll keep chasing him until we bring him back.”

Xia Zuomosuo, wearing the secret message ring on his left thumb, chatted with Dim about the itinerary before returning to his room to rest.

Chapter 33 Hair and Blood

the next morning.

Tim drove the carriage out of Starlight City, with Good Horse Carrot pulling the carriage at full speed ahead.

After Xia Zuo and the others' carriage turned onto the mountain path, he said goodbye to Dim and used his Windwalk spell to continue on his own.

After drifting through the mountains for ten days, they finally arrived at the city of Sprill at noon on the eleventh day.

The weather was bad that day; a light drizzle fell, and dark clouds hung in the sky, growing thicker and thicker, with the rain showing signs of intensifying.

Rainfall has a slight impact on cloud formations. While drifting in the rain, you lose 3 to 5 health points per hour, which is within a tolerable range.

Xia Zuo found a secluded inn in the city and rested for two hours before floating towards the Warriors' Guild's stronghold, feeling refreshed.

Hermster's Alchemy Chamber is located deep within the Warriors' Guild's three-story stone building.

Following the information provided by Dim, Xia Zuo navigated the intricate corridors for a while, avoiding patrolling guards and detection orbs that detect energy fluctuations, and finally found his target.

Helmsster's mental state is terrible.

He had obvious dark circles under his eyes beneath square black-rimmed glasses, his brown curly hair was unkempt, and there was a ring of unshaven bluish stubble around his mouth.

Colleagues passing by seemed to know that Hemsster was about to be in trouble, and would deliberately avoid him when they passed by.

Helms himself, carrying a tray, his indifferent expression tinged with weariness, pushed open the iron door and entered his alchemy room, completely unaware that a transparent cloud of mist had followed him in.

Xia Zuo floated close to the ceiling, quickly scanned the scene inside the room, and hid on the top of a storage cabinet piled with miscellaneous items.

Helms sat down at his desk, took off his gloves, tossed them casually onto the table, and stared blankly at the wall clock.

Xia Zuo observed carefully and noticed a band-aid on the other person's left index finger, the same color as the skin. Strands of bright red blood were seeping from the edge of the band-aid, indicating that the wound inside was quite deep and had not fully healed.

Xia Zuo used his detection spell on the figure by the table.

...

[Character Name] Helmst

[Identity] Expert-level bio-alchemist, member of the Bio-Alchemist Association, mage apprentice

[Health Points] ? ? ? (Body Damage)

[Resistance]

Fire Resistance 5%

【Water resistance】7%

【Soil Resistance】11%

【Wind Resistance】7%

[Strength] 5

[Agile] 4

[Endurance] 5

[Vitality] 3

[Perception] 7

[Willpower] 8

[Mental State] 24

【Charm】5

[Spell Power], [Character Strength] Unknown

(Due to insufficient perception and knowledge reserves, no more information was obtained)

...

The physical injury is likely caused by the wound on the left index finger. The fact that there is still blood seeping from the wound despite the patient having 3 points of vitality indicates that the wound is either relatively new or quite deep and unlikely to heal easily.

What's even stranger is why not use magic or potions to repair the damage?

Helmsster's mental attribute is as high as 24 points.

Without Beatrice's anti-detection barrier, the strange cloud of vapor would have been detected on the spot.

Xia Zuo also confirmed one more thing—Hermes doesn't know the [Elemental Shell] meditation technique.

His earth resistance reached 11%, making him the only mage apprentice Xia Zuo has encountered with a resistance exceeding 10%.

The higher the Spirit attribute value, the stronger the effect of [Elemental Vision] and the better it is at observing the target's resistance.

Xia Zuo's current spirit is less than 23 points. He can only see small light spots when the resistance is greater than 10%, and he cannot see small light spots when the resistance is less than 10%.

Small, distinct brown specks of light floated out from Helmst's body. The other three resistances were below 10%, so even if small specks of the corresponding color floated out, Xia Zuo couldn't detect them.

Time ticked by, and the figure by the desk became completely dazed, eyes vacant, face numb, as if he would never come out of his daze.

Xia Zuo remained motionless on the locker.

Helms' alchemy room had no windows; only a wall clock told the time.

"Click...click...crack..."

The second hand slid precisely, and the sound of gears turning was the only noise here.

0:00 PM.

Xia Zuo secretly rejoiced that he had taken a nap and had plenty of energy to stay up until late at night. Suddenly, he noticed that there was movement coming from the direction of his desk as soon as midnight struck.

Helmsster's eyes widened, his lips twitched, and he clapped his hands as if he had made a decision.

He grabbed his hair a few times and pulled out a large clump of brown curls.

He put his hair on the table, grabbed his left index finger with his right hand and pulled hard. The bandage, along with blood and bits of flesh, came off his fingertip. He bit down hard on his left index finger with both rows of teeth, and then raised his bright red finger above the table.

A drop of bright red blood fell onto the table, mixing with strands of brown hair.

Throughout the entire ordeal, Hemst remained silent and did not utter a sound, as if the pain in his scalp and fingers had nothing to do with him.

Helms ignored the blood flowing from his fingers, clasped his hands together in front of him, stared intently at the hair on the table, and muttered incomprehensible words.

Xia Zuo was somewhat taken aback by the other party's series of actions. At this moment, he could only quietly hide on the locker and calmly observe.

The brown hair on the table trembled, blood flowed to the hair strands, and was eventually absorbed by the hair.

The hair shook more and more violently, changing shape in a few seconds, transforming into a tiny person the size of a thumb who stood up.

The tiny figure with hair doesn't have visible facial features, but its movements are incredibly agile.

It looked around, seemingly surprised to find itself in the alchemy room.

A hoarse voice came through, "Are you crazy?! Helmster! How dare you contact me from inside the city?!"

"Change the time! Change the place! And stop contacting me every day!" The little man with hair trembled, shaking blood all around him, his hair about to break apart.

Just then, a drop of blood fell onto the little man's head. The hair strands, affected by the blood, stuck together tightly, and the tendency to disintegrate stopped.

"What do you want to do?!" the shrewish man growled. "End the communication now!"

Helmsster's face was grim as he stared intently at the little man with the hair.

The little man with the hair paused in his action of shaking off the blood, recovering from his initial panic, his words revealing coldness:

"Are you threatening me? Do you think they can find me with just this doll?"

Helmster wavered, a flicker of confusion crossing his eyes before turning grim again, and he spat out a sentence through gritted teeth:

"Get me out of here, as soon as possible! I don't want to be locked up in Erthogard!"

"Hmph." The little man with the hair found his confidence in the conversation, put his hands behind his back, looked at the other's haggard face, and said arrogantly:

"In at most half a month, Fritz will arrive in Spree with my puppet. As long as you maintain your current routine and don't contact anyone, the puppet can cover you for at least 3 days, which is enough for you to escape to the wilderness."

"boom!"

Helmsster's face darkened with anger. He slammed his right hand on the table, then glanced nervously at the door, as if afraid someone had heard what was happening.

His chest heaved violently as he gasped for breath and said hoarsely:

"That woman, Alyssa, must have told Tim about me. Tim left Starlight City 11 days ago and should find me in 7 days at most. And now you're telling me I have to wait another half month!?"